Sunny Side Of Life
by jack.drury.357
Summary: Snake has found himself in the comforting grip of an African village during his travels. However, his old habits soon kick in when those closest to him are taken and the village is attacked. He soon finds himself on a mission to seek revenge against those who crushed what was left of his life.
1. Chapter I

**Old Snake In**

**Sunny Side Of Life**

**I do not own the rights to the Metal Gear Franchise. All rights belong to Konami and Kojima Productions and I am using the characters for fanfiction. This story takes place in between MGS 4 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.**

**Chapter I**

Snake stood gazing at the graves of the dead. He found it hard to come to terms with the size of the overgrown cemetery. His exploration into the success of his courage in war brought him to a small village in Africa. After only having a year to live, he travelled the world to observe the things he had changed for the better in places that were once infected with conflict. However, wherever he went he was still surrounded by death and as much as he tried, he could not bring back those who lost their lives on the battlefield. He strolled among the graves which were marked with two twigs in a cross shape. The graves were nameless making them seem less significant. He stopped at one grave that stood out form the rest. This grave had a blue rose on it. Snake wondered what made that grave so special. A native African man popped up behind Snake.

"Snake, it is time to go. My people are preparing to feast," Said the African.

"Did all these people die in war, Enu?"

"Yes. Some of them were as young as 9 years old. My son is among them," Explained Enu in disgust.

"What does the blue rose mean?"

"The blue rose is for those who died without choice or chance," He pointed to the grave Snake was standing at, "That one there is the grave of a baby girl who died through starvation after being born into poverty. The blue rose signifies hope which they can carry on into the next life."

Snake turned to face Enu.

"War is a terrible plague, but we must engage with it to make it extinct. I mean, look at me. I fought for my country only to be rewarded with more death, deceit and destruction."

"The world is not perfect, Snake, but I believe you have done your best to change and improve on its flaws. That's all anyone can do."

"Yeah, well my best wasn't good enough," Snake escaped his darken mood, "Come on, Enu. Let us go eat."

The two strolled over the sandy ground to a camp fire attended by many of the locals. They served Snake with a juicy joint of meat. The tanned skin of the meat was peppered with herbs.

"Thank you," Snake said kindly to the locals.

"No thank you, war hero," Replied one of them.

Snake froze on the spot and sighed before sitting down. He dug into his meat with average expectations but was surprised by the quality of the meal he was eating. As Snake was enjoying his meal, one child came and perched his rear end next to his. Snake looked at him and looked away again.

"Hello," said the boy but Snake didn't react.

"My name is Tau. What is yours?"

Snake looked at the kid with a mouthful of food.

"Snake. My name is Snake."

"Snake, huh? That's a warrior's name. I meant what's your real name?" Tau said with enthusiasm.

Snake ignored the boy's question.

"Shouldn't you be sat with the others," He said nodding in the direction that was most populated.

"Thank you."

"For what?" asked Snake.

"…For saving my people."

"Don't thank me Tau. I may have saved your people but there are many others I didn't."

Snake put his eyes to the ground.

"You need to stop being so sad. Be happy. You may have not saved some people but without you, no one would be safe. It's because of you any of us are still alive. You may not like the hero treatment but unique people deserve unique respect," Spoke Tau with maturity.

Tau's words surprised Snake.

"Tau, go away and leave Snake alone," snapped Enu.

Tau got up and ran away.

"Tau, wait," shouted Snake.

Tau came sprinting back.

"It's David; my real name I mean."

Tau smiled and returned to his family.

"You feeling better Snake?" asked Enu.

"Yeah. I guess I am."

"I'm sorry about Tau. He can be a bit annoying sometimes but he is a smart kid."

"Don't worry about it, Enu."

They sat together as they finished the last few strips of meat they had left. But then Snake felt a sharp pain in his chest. He began to cough vigorously.

"Snake?" said Enu in shock.

His coughing got progressively worse until he began spewing blood. Enu tried to help by patting his back but was truly inexperienced with this kind of behaviour. Snake raised his arm to signal to Enu to leave him. Eventually the coughing simmered down but Snake still had blood covered lips.

"Snake, are you okay? I think you need help," suggested Enu.

"There isn't anything anyone can do for me now. I have a year tops to live."

Enu felt sorry for Snake but as he said, there was not a lot he could do. Snake wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I'm sorry, Enu, but I'm going to have to call it a night. Thank you for letting me stay here with your village folk. I'll be gone by morning."

"So soon?" questioned Enu.

"I'm afraid so. There's a lot I have to see and not much time to see it in."

"Fair enough, Snake. Sleep well."

"I doubt it," muttered Snake, "you too, Enu."

Snake wandered off into the tent provided for him scratching the back of his neck. He sat on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands. He paused a minute to assess the day's events. The final decision was that it had been a successful day for Snake. He looked over at his rucksack by the side of the bed. It was time for him to check in with Otacon. While dragging the bag closer to him, he reached in and pulled out his ear piece. He placed it in his ear and lay back on the bed as it rung.

"Hello, Snake," Greeted a voice in Snake's ear.

"Otacon, how have you been?"

"Not bad at all."

"What have you been up to?"

"Sunny and I have been testing security systems for the American government. You know, like safe codes and fire walls."

Snake was speechless. He never was very good with the technical side of espionage.

"Anyway, how have you been since we last spoke," enquired Otacon.

"Excluding the stomach and chest pains, I have been fine. I must admit, I'm enjoying my travels," Snake smirked.

"Good. Let me know when you're finished, Snake. We will have to meet up at some point and have a formal catch up…" Suddenly Otacon was interrupted by some murmurs.

"Snake?" Spoke a new voice.

"Sunny?" Questioned Snake.

"Hey Snake. How are you?"

"I'm good, Sunny, how are you?

"I'm good too. You still not smoking? Do you miss my cooking? Do you miss me?"

Snake laughed, "No I'm still not smoking and yes I have missed you."

Sunny knew that Snake had deliberately ignored the cooking question but chose not to follow up on it.

"I miss you, Snake. Call again soon, okay?"

"I will Sunny. I'll get in contact within the next few days. Tell Otacon I said bye."

"I will do. See you soon Snake."

Snake took the ear piece from his ear and placed it on top of his fold-out table. He then lay with his back to the bed and his arms folded behind his head. Snake gently closed his aged eyes and instantly drifted to sleep after a long day of travelling.


	2. Chapter II

**Old Snake In**

**Sunny Side Of Life**

**I do not own the rights to the Metal Gear Franchise. All rights belong to Konami and Kojima Productions and I am using the characters for fanfiction. This story takes place in between MGS 4 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.**

**Chapter II**

Life-like nightmares and ruthless flashbacks haunted Snake's sleep. He stood on top of a skyscraper looking down at the ants below. Snake was unaware he was dreaming and stepped away from the ledge. He turned to look behind him and, to his surprise, there stood Liquid. Snake's eyes filled with anger and poison. He sprinted towards Liquid with his teeth grinding together but no matter how many steps he took, Liquid always appeared in the distance. Then he heard a thud. It was coming from the ground beneath his feet. He peered down and, when he looked back up again, Liquid was gone. The thuds became more aggressive. Snake struggled to keep his balance. Suddenly, an overly sized arm slapped the top of the skyscraper. Snake turned to face the arm with doubtful thinking. He watched as a huge metallic and fleshy figure rose above him. It was a cross between Liquid and metal gear. Snake attempted to escape but the huge arm grabbed him and clutched hard. Snake could feel his lungs being restricted. The monstrous giant brought Snake closed to its face.

"DIE, SNAKE!"

It then took snake and through him off the side of the skyscraper. He plummeted towards the Earth with a deep sense of the sinking feeling. He could feel the ground coming up to smack him from below. He nearly hit the floor when he saw a flash of a figure with a gas mask screaming, "WAKE UP!"

Snake woke up in a hot sweat breathing frantically. He coughed his guts up when his old age kicked in. As Snake rubbed his eyes, he could hear a scrambled disturbance nearby. He looked around to see where it was coming from when he found the source; his ear piece. The faint voice of Otacon was leaking from it. Snake put it in his ear and put his index and middle finger against it.

"Otacon, what's going on?"

"Snake, I don't know. We were suddenly attacked by two stealth jets without warning. Sunny is unconscious and the Nomad is coming down and fast," explained Otacon in a blind panic.

"Where are you?"

"Not far from your location. From what I can see there are troops closing on your location as well."

"What… What the hell is going on?" Snake queried in fury.

"Snake, don't let them get Sunny."

Snake heard an immense crash before his ear piece cut out. Enu rushed into his tent which immediately got his attention.

"Snake, you have got to come look at this," He puffed struggling for breath.

Snake ran out to see what was causing all the uproar. The first thing he noticed was 2 jets running parallel to each other over head. His eyes followed them until he noticed flames and smoke covering a plane wreck in the background. He knew it was the Nomad.

"Snake watch out!"

Snake turned around and saw three camouflaged tanks head towards the village, destroying everything in their sight. They were manned by masked soldiers who were also escorting the tanks through the village.

"Enu, find cover," commanded Snake

"What are we going to do?"

"We're going to send these suckers a welcome pack."

Snake ran back into his tent and searched his bag with speed. He pulled out a silenced colt pistol and an M4 assault rifle with a scope. He put his hand back in again and pulled out a lighter and a bottle of alcohol. Enu was waiting outside behind a rock as the soldiers were getting closer. Enu could hear the footsteps get closer. The unreal sound of bullets hitting bodies brought a tear to his eye.

"Check over there," Shouted one of the soldiers.

Enu knew they were going to see him. He looked up as a soldier walked passed. The soldier stopped and looked behind him. There stood Enu in a trembling fear. He closed his eyes tight shut as the soldier raised his gun and looked down his sight. But then, as if fate had better plans for Enu, Snake appeared from behind his tent flap and took out three of the troops with single shots. This caught the attention of the other soldiers and one of the tanks. Snake grabbed Enu and took him to cover behind the many different improvised home structures. The soldiers blitzed all the shanty houses with a heavy load of bullets. They obliterated all the materials that were providing shelter for the now dead locals. When they finished they searched among all the debris and corpses. One of the soldiers stepped over a body and then consequently fell to the floor dead. The other two soldiers turned to see what had happened. They observed Enu on the floor with a silenced pistol as smoke poured from the barrel end but before they could react, they too hit the floor like a sack of suds. The head of the tank began to adjust its bearings to turn and aim at Enu but little did the driver know that Snake had run up behind with a Molotov cocktail in hand. He mounted the body of the tank, opened the hatch and launched the Molotov in. The soldiers inside burned and died undignified deaths. He then took the M4 from around his shoulder and blind fired at the other two tanks as Enu ran over to the tank Snake was on for cover. Snake slowly stepped off the tank to regroup with Enu.

The two sat behind the tank as bullets flew passed them.

"Now what do we do?" asked Enu.

Snake looked around the corner and saw a sand coloured cover that had been previously used as shelter. He pulled it from under a wood panel and placed it over him and Enu.

"Lay down," He said.

Enu laid down as did Snake.

"Right, listen. If I can get back to my bag in my tent, I can restock on ammo and explosives. Now these guys maybe powerful but they are dumb and with this sheet over us they won't be able to see us through their safety goggles at a distance like that. The trick to this is to move with as little expression as possible."

Confused, Enu replied, "What do you mean?"

"I mean just move forwards. Don't wiggle your ass or move your legs, just drag yourself with your arms as smoothly and as in sync with me as possible. Can you do that?"

Enu looked Snake in the eyes.

"Yes."

"Right, let's go."

Snake began to move gently with his arms. Enu monitored and replicated. They sluggishly covered ground as one. Their movement was inexistent to the tanks. But then, without warning, the tanks began to move.

"Snake their coming towards us," warned Enu.

"No they're not. They're getting further away," Snake corrected.

He lay on his back with his rifle close to his chest and lifted the cover off of him. He checked the area but the tanks had disappeared into a dusty cloud.

"It's safe," he assured Enu.

They both got up from under the cover and walked over to the dead bodies. Enu's emotions ran high.

"I'm sorry, Enu."

"Were they here for you?"

"I doubt it; otherwise I would be dead or a hostage."

Enu looked around as if something was missing.

"Where's Tau? Tau! TAU!" Shouted Enu, "Oh no. Do you think they have taken him?"

Snake paused and looked at the ground.

"I guess anything is possible at the minute."

Then he remembered the plane crash in the distance. He needed to get to Otacon and Sunny to check they were alright. He climbed back on top of the unmanned tank and pulled out a burnt corpse from within.

"Enu, give us a hand," he requested.

Enu climbed on the tank as well and got a hold of the second corpse from inside. They dumped the bodies on the ground and clambered inside the tank.

"Where are we going, Snake?"

"I need to check on a few friends."

Snake handled the steering and speed while Enu kept a look out for any remaining troops. They drove over a big stretch of desert before the wreckage was clearly visible among the smoke. When they reached a walkable distance from the crash site, they abandoned the tank and gently jogged up to one of the plane's panel which had become vertically wedged in the sand. They both hid behind it as Snake signalled to Enu to stay put. Snake concentrated his hearing on the events unfolding behind the panel. He could hear three muffled voices.

"Did you get the package?" asked one of them.

"Yes, sir."

"Any bodies?"

"Just that one in the corner, sir," spoke the third.

Snake was preparing to attack when a strong pain jabbed his organs. He coughed and fell to his knees in a fight for breath. Enu watched helplessly as he heard one of the voices creep up to the panel. Suddenly, a soldier peered from around the corner with his gun at the ready. He pointed it at Snake in a threatening manner.

"Stand up," He commanded.

He got no response

"He can't," Explained Enu.

"Well then, he is not much use to anyone is he?"

Within those few seconds of the soldier speaking, Snake sprung from the ground, pushing the barrel of the soldier's gun to the side as he did. He then, with a handful of sand, blinded the soldier and got him in a headlock. With the soldier in the hostage position, Snake went round the corner to greet the other two attackers. As soon as he did, one of the soldiers raised his gun but the other didn't. In fact the other guy didn't look like a soldier at all. He had half of his face covered with a mask like the classic phantom of the opera character. He had no hair but a sinister stare.

"Let him go," said the soldier

"You are in no position to shout orders. First, you put the gun down," replied Snake.

The soldier hesitated but eventually put down the gun. He then put his hands in the air but quickly back tracked on his decisions and launched himself at Snake. Snake let go of the now free solider and head rammed the other one in the face. He fell to his knees but now the other soldier had regained stability and started attacking. The soldier through a punch in frustration but Snake grabbed it and twisted his arm backwards. He then used his arm to apply pressure to the soldier's elbow and snapped it. The other soldier, on his knees, got a face full of Snake's boot. With slick precision, Snake caught his foot under a gun, flicked it up, caught it and pointed it at the remaining foe.

"Hands in the air," shouted Snake as he grit his teeth.

The masked villain did so but did not speak. Snake got a good look at the guy to try and assess and predict his motives and place of origin.

"Snake."

"How… how do you know my name?" asked Snake as he feared for his privacy.

"I know all about you; the Mantis keeps me updated on the movement of all my opposition. He gave me your memory unit."

"What are you talking about?"

He told me how you like to play Zelda and Castlevania. He told me how clumsy you are with your lack of saves. You're a good soldier Snake but you are flawed like others. With my knowledge, I can use those flaws to my advantage and weaken you."

Snake was in panic at the random pattern of his speech. He thrusted his gun at him but the phantom clapped twice and vanished in a cloud of tear gas. Snake covered his mouth and eyes as the cloud passed over him. He checked to see if the cloud had gone when Enu stumbled from around the panel.

"Are you alright?" asked Snake with genuine concern.

"Yeah," Enu replied, "Who's that over there?"

Snake glanced at the corner and saw Otacon laid on the floor bleeding.

"OTACON!"

He ran over to secure the bleeding.

"Otacon, are you okay?"

"I'm cold, Snake. It's the end of the road for me."

"Don't say that. We will have you up and mobile in no time."

"Sunny. They took Sunny."

"Took Sunny? Where?"

"Chicago in some building. It's part of a ghost town based around a skyscraper."

"Don't worry about her. I'll find her. You just keep your breathing steady."

Snake was putting more and more pressure on Otacon's wound and tears strolled down his face.

"I'm sorry, Snake," Otacon took his last few breaths and whispered in Snake's ear, "Don't let them hurt Sunny."

Otacon's pulse was a necessity of the past. His corpse laid lifeless in the dirt and debris.

"I won't," whispered Snake.

He clenched his fist so hard he could hear his fingers cracking.

"I won't let them bastards touch a hair on her head."

Enu watched as a grown man became an emotional wreck. He sat next to Snake with his arm round him.

"What do we do now?" He inquired.

Snake looked up from the ground with a face of vengeance.

"We take what we need from here and go to Chicago."


End file.
